Orlando high-school senior fights illiteracy in India

At the tender age of 17, Tarun Mathur has traveled to some 25 countries.

But it was the homeland of his father, a former Tupperware executive, that really struck him -- especially the poverty.

"Children are really in need of a better life in India," said Tarun, who will graduate as valedictorian from Lake Highland Preparatory School this month.

To do his part, he formed a club at his school dedicated to helping fight illiteracy in India. The group has collected $4,000 so far.

Born in Hong Kong, Tarun came to Orlando seven years ago with his parents. His father, Pradeep Mathur, once headed Tupperware's Asia Pacific division and later became the Orlando-based company's CFO before leaving in 2004 to run his own outsourcing medical-billing company. The family lives in Phillips Landing.

When Tarun was a freshman at Lake Highland, his family attended a fundraiser in Longwood for Ekal Vidyalaya, a global charity organization that aims to fight illiteracy by funding schools in rural India.

The charity is very popular in India, but receives a third of its financial support from Indians living outside their country. Last year, Florida led U.S. states in contributions, said Chandresh Saraiya, former national president of Ekal and a physician in Zephyrhills.

After talking to administrators at Lake Highland, Tarun started his club. He came up with a name for the group: RICE, an acronym for Removing Illiteracy by Collective Education. He then made a presentation to his school's Multicultural Club to drum up support.

Then came the hard work: selling chicken sandwiches in the cafeteria and collecting donations. Lake Highland's student council contributed matching funds. The money was donated to Ekal Vidyalaya.

In all, the students collected enough money to help 23 schools.

"It feels really good to help," said Jeeten Jamnadas, a Lake Highland senior and RICE member. "The only way to get a country out of poverty is through education."

Two summers ago, Tarun visited an Ekal Vidyalaya school outside New Delhi and talked with students and teachers. He saw the fruits of his work. "They told me how the recruitment [of students] has grown each year," he said.

Unlike a lot of clubs that dissolve within a few years, Tarun says RICE will have staying power. When he graduates and heads to Stanford University, his brother Arjun, a ninth-grader at Lake Highland, will take over.